UPDATE (6/2/2024): Originally on May 15th, 2024 we sent out a survey asking every Gubernatorial candidate 14 “real” questions. Candidate responses are published below. We hope that more answers will still come in. We invite you to email the candidates and tell them that these questions are important to you and ask them to answer these questions.
Later this summer, we’ll review all answers that come in, and Defending Utah will give our personal opinion on what we think of the answers given. But regardless of the answer, just being willing to answer this survey speaks volumes about the candidates.
It’s disappointing how few candidates are willing to answer these questions.
Elections often focus on emotional issues that have nothing to do with the actual constitutional knowledge and compliance that our nation is starving for.
We claim to love the constitution, but we are hypocritically lacking in our own understanding, and this shows in the wrong questions we’re asking candidates.
This is a primary reason candidates don’t have to actually care about the constitution, because when push comes to shove, we care more about the emotionally charged issue of the day, than actual constitutional compliance.
Defending Utah’s hope is that we can all learn to ask the real questions that matter, so that we can change the election culture to focus on what matters. If we shift towards demanding real constitutional knowledge and compliance, instead of demanding what someone’s going to do about the latest emotional headline, then we’ll move the goalpost for elected officials.
Our constitution will regain the life it needs, when we start speaking to it. We hope the public will encourage all candidates to care about this survey and all issues at the constitutional level.
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(5/2/2024) The following questions were sent to all gubernatorial candidates in Utah. On this page we report back on how any candidate answers the questions, or if they do not answer them at all.
Responses can be sent via email or submitted here on our contact page.
To: Gubernatorial Candidates as registered with the lt. governor’s office as taken from this website: https://vote.utah.gov/2024-candidate-filings/#State%20Offices
Tommy Williams (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Brian Smith King (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
J Robert Latham (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Tom Tomeny (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Sylvia Miera Fisk (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Scott Robbins (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
T Carson Jorgensen (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Spencer J. Cox (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Phil Lyman (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Charlie Tautuaa (View Public Candidate Filing Submission)
Dear Utah Gubernatorial candidate,
As an organization that endorses no candidates, we wish to report on how any candidate answers the same questions.
The people of Utah, as representatives of our constitutional framework, are interested in these questions in pursuance of understanding your general knowledge and intent to govern Utah according to the constitutional rule of law.
These questions were gathered from real Utahns, and selected by us as the most common or relevant questions that would help Utahns make an educated decision on what matters most.
Answers are hoped to be posted on various Utah websites and there may possibly also be video reports reading and discussing these answers.
Thank you
Defending Utah
On behalf of all concerned Utahns who love this state and this country and support the rule of law under our constitutional framework.
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General Utah Gubernatorial Candidate questions:
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1. As governor, your constitutional oath gives you the power to enforce the constitution unilaterally within your executive authority if other departments are violating it. Do you understand and accept that the state and federal constitutions are your job description?
2. Can you convince me that you understand the purpose of our constitutions?
3. What would you do if you heard just one citizen of Utah was having their property rights taken without proper due process, and that such action was authorized by legislation?
4. Do you accept the state’s claim to “own all the water” as legitimate or do you accept that all water is owned by whoever has deed to it and lawfully obtained that water from the previous owner?
5. If a law is in conflict with the state constitution, what power do you have to make the effects of the law void?
6. Would you be willing to attend a monthly constitution training course from a well-known doctorate of constitutional studies university teacher as part of your ongoing job training as governor?
7. What will you do about the rampant executive branch abuse of authority of enforcing rules that are not laws, under the color of law?
8. If a local town or an individual chooses to ignore a law, state or federal, because they understand it to violate the constitutions, will you go out of your way to support them?
9. Will you publicly announce that the claims of drought in Utah have been fraudulent and that the great salt lake is not dying, but being used for lithium mining?
10. The Utah constitution’s free market clause is one of the most blatantly ignored sections. Will you take executive action, as authorized by your constitutional oath, to end the use of all public private partnerships in Utah?
11. Will you take action to end the influence of regional governments that are not part of our constitutional framework which act out as if they rule behind-the-scenes, as their actions are often rubber stamped by government authorities?
12. Will you shut down all smart metering in the state, as such widespread surveillance of the people does not come as the result any warrant to gather the vast personal data that is being gathered. And “general warrants” are not constitutional, and was even one of the causes of the American Revolution.
13. Will you end Utah’s support for unconstitutional surveillance by shutting off the water supply to the NSA data center? Such action would arguably be a proper way to nullify federal overreach using the power of your oath of office to defend the citizens of Utah.
14. Will you take unilateral action as authorized by your oath of office to enforce that all Utah law enforcement is accountable if they execute punishment on Utah citizens without due process, such as stealing their property or killing them?
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Answers from candidates as of 6/2/2024 (We’ll add any new candidates that still submit answers)
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Tommy Williams – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
Brian Smith King – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
J Robert Latham – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
Tom Tomeny – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
Sylvia Miera Fisk – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
Scott Robbins – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
T Carson Jorgensen – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
Spencer J. Cox – Has not contacted us or responded to the survey
Phil Lyman – Contacted us, but has not responded to the survey
Charlie Tautuaa – Responses provided
Matthew Field (write-in candidate) – Responses provided
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Answers from candidate Charlie Tautuaa
——————1. As governor, your constitutional oath gives you the power to enforce the constitution unilaterally within your executive authority if other departments are violating it. Do you understand and accept that the state and federal constitutions are your job description?
2. Can you convince me that you understand the purpose of our constitutions?
3. What would you do if you heard just one citizen of Utah was having their property rights taken without proper due process, and that such action was authorized by legislation?
4. Do you accept the state’s claim to “own all the water” as legitimate or do you accept that all water is owned by whoever has deed to it and lawfully obtained that water from the previous owner?
5. If a law is in conflict with the state constitution, what power do you have to make the effects of the law void?
6. Would you be willing to attend a monthly constitution training course from a well-known doctorate of constitutional studies university teacher as part of your ongoing job training as governor?
7. What will you do about the rampant executive branch abuse of authority of enforcing rules that are not laws, under the color of law?
8. If a local town or an individual chooses to ignore a law, state or federal, because they understand it to violate the constitutions, will you go out of your way to support them?
9. Will you publicly announce that the claims of drought in Utah have be en fraudulent and that the great salt lake is not dying, but being used for lithium mining?
10. The Utah constitution’s free market clause is one of the most blatantly ignored sections. Will you take executive action, as authorized by your constitutional oath, to end the use of all public private partnerships in Utah?
11. Will you take action to end the influence of regional governments that are not part of our constitutional framework which act out as if they rule behind-the-scenes, as their actions are often rubber stamped by government authorities?
12. Will you shut down all smart metering in the state, as such widespread surveillance of the people does not come as the result any warrant to gather the vast personal data that is being gathered. And “general warrants” are not constitutional, and was even one of the causes of the American Revolution.
13. Will you end Utah’s support for unconstitutional surveillance by shutting off the water supply to the NSA data center? Such action would arguably be a proper way to nullify federal overreach using the power of your oath of office to defend the citizens of Utah.
14. Will you take unilateral action as authorized by your oath of office to enforce that all Utah law enforcement is accountable if they execute punishment on Utah citizens without due process, such as stealing their property or killing them?
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Answers from candidate Matt Field (Write-in):
——————We have removed the answers from “Matt Field” who claimed to be a write-in candidate, who kept giving us empty promises that his write-in registration was in process. Then he announced he was giving up. It seems he was a distraction and not genuine.
13 Responses
Great questions. Thank you for putting this together and sending it out.
All candidates across the USA should be required to answer questions like these before being elected.
We definitely are looking for opportunities to teach that idea through our national reach organization, http://www.committees.us (American Committees Association)
You swear to up hold the constitution.
Have any of the Candidates responded yet?
Kathy G
Somebody emailed us and asked:
“What are your views on the US Senate and House candidates?”
Our answer:
“They should all answer the exact same questions, but just think of them in the power of the house or senate offices.”
Have any canidates acturally answered besides Lyman.
He has not answered
Another good question: Do you support men in women’s sports?
While that sounds relevant because it’s the emotional issue of the day, that’s not a constitutional question and thus you give an example of exactly the concern I wrote about in this article of us asking the wrong questions. If we were to ask this question in a way that is relevant to the constitution, it would be to clarify that the governor would withdraw all influence of government in civil life where this question would even be asked. It’s because we’ve let government run our schools our local sports and run so much of our lives overall, that we find ourselves battling this issue with the state. I might push back on myself a little bit, and concede that in Utah one of the worst things in our state constitution is that we would created a public school system and therefore the question does become more relevant. But this very thing in our state constitution contradicts other parts of the state constitution. This conversation could get very intricate. Then again, the school system is fundamentally unconstitutional, as it is financed so much by the federal government, with federal control, where there absolutely is no constitutional authority to be involved in education. At the end of the day, it is a joke on us that we waste time arguing over people’s opinions on such a trivial question, when the basic principles of republican government, the core issues at the root of our problems, are completely ignored.
There are men sports, women sports and if the competitor does not fall into the one or the other, they are to be in a co-ed sports. Transgender men can not compete in women sports despite all cosmetics, neither are women permitted the same in male sports. All transgender individual fall under co-ed sports and none other.
Granted, all public facilities and buildings are to remain neutral and protect every individuals rights. Private properties are dependent on the property owners decisions and not the government.
Defending Utah is awesome! They are probably the only organization I’m aware of reaching out to all candidates to give them the opportunity to respond to their questions. It is oddly telling that none of the “major” party candidates have taken the time to respond. Media needs to give equal time to all who are running for office so that everyone is aware of their options but, all but Defending Utah, haven’t lived up to their duty as watch dogs. Rather, they support the power structure rather than what is right. For those reading, please take the time to share these questions and give a shout-out to Defending Utah. Also, please take the time to review my proposal (read or listen) at govmatt.org. Thanks again!
Outstanding questions. Poor response is disappointing.